Practicing the Fen Jue

In the quiet room, Zhang Nian sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor, with the heaven-defying cultivation technique, Fen Jue, placed before him.

"Low-grade Yellow tier, so be it. I refuse to believe that my Nanming Li Fire can't push you to the top!"

He shifted his slightly numb legs, sat cross-legged once more, and began to cultivate.

Slowly exhaling a breath of stale air, he closed his eyes slightly, his consciousness gradually sinking into his body. Through internal observation, he checked the state of his Dou Qi Vortex. In his lower dantian, a palm-sized, milky-white vortex was rotating slowly, while beside it sat the Nanming Li Fire, radiating a holy aura.

Watching the vortex with his mind, Zhang Nian nodded in satisfaction. Now, he only needed to practice Fen Jue, introduce the mark of the Nanming Li Fire into it to trigger an evolution, and finally, convert all the Dou Qi in his body into the technique's attribute. Tonight would be a sleepless night. The reason Zhang Nian chose not to convert his Dou Qi first was that the conversion speed of a low-grade Yellow tier technique was slow, and the Dou Qi was impure—it was like putting diesel into a sports car designed for premium fuel; how could it possibly run?

As he refined it over and over, the milky-white vortex in his body began to change. This was common knowledge on the Dou Qi Continent: after breaking through to the Dou Zhe realm, everyone gained the qualifications to practice a cultivation technique. Once a technique was practiced, the attribute-less, milky-white Dou Qi in the body would transform into the attribute of that technique.

The first conversion of Dou Qi did not take long, or rather, Zhang Nian had only converted the Dou Qi within his condensed Dou Qi Vortex; the Dou Qi in his meridians had yet to be transformed. Being a low-grade Yellow tier technique, even this small step took two hours, which only strengthened Zhang Nian's resolve to evolve the technique first.

"Hoo..."

"Finally, the initial conversion is complete. My strength is currently stable at a one-star Dou Zhe. Next, I just need to control the Nanming Li Fire to extract the fire seed and run it through Fen Jue to complete the evolution!"

He wiped the sweat from his forehead. There was little time left of the 24 hours mentioned by the system; it seemed he needed to speed things up. Of course, if he really couldn't make it and the opportunity dissipated, so be it; he would just have to urge Medusa and the others to work harder.

Closing his eyes again, he immersed his consciousness. With a thought, the Nanming Li Fire in his dantian consciously dispersed the milky-white flames surrounding it, leaving only the fire seed at its core. Only then did Zhang Nian see clearly that the fire seed of the Nanming Li Fire was actually colorless. This form was indeed similar to the Fallen Heart Flame.

The flame was extremely gentle, perhaps because it was a reward from the system. When Zhang Nian manipulated the fire seed, the flame showed no signs of resistance, like an obedient child following an adult's guidance.

As the Nanming Li Fire was pushed into the circulation path of the Fen Jue technique, it seemed to sense something, yet it remained docile. After a few cycles, it became increasingly proficient, and eventually, it didn't even need Zhang Nian to deliberately guide it, moving on its own.

This scene left Zhang Nian somewhat dumbfounded. If a certain Flame Emperor from the future were to see this, he would likely be so angry he would tremble. Back in his day, every time he swallowed a flame, he had to become a bloody mess.

As it washed over his meridians again and again, the Dou Qi within the vortex changed from a pale yellow to a milky white. When the milky-white Dou Qi, as scorching as magma, flowed through the final meridian, the sky surrounding Yunlan Mountain underwent a violent transformation.

Rolling black clouds surged from all directions, as if sensing something calling out to them. Suddenly, fierce winds howled across the heavens, blowing incessantly. This phenomenon, however, only occurred within a twenty-mile radius of Yunlan Mountain.

In the Jia Ma Imperial City, Jia Xingtian sensed the anomaly and flew into the sky once more to inspect the situation. Upon witnessing this grand spectacle with his own eyes, he was completely stunned... He blurted out a complaint: "Saint... your daily displays of power... how are the hearts of us common folk supposed to handle this..."

Yun Shan, who was leading Yun Yun back, also felt the unusual energy in the heavens and earth behind him. He suddenly stopped, turned, and looked back. The direction of Yunlan Mountain was covered in thick black clouds, and the very center where the clouds gathered was Yunlan Mountain...

"It seems the Saint has returned, and he has brought with him no small opportunity... Yun Yun, this is a heavenly phenomenon..." Yun Shan said bitterly. Practitioners would always feel both longing and fear toward such scenes. They longed for the day when they could cause the heavens and earth to manifest such a phenomenon for themselves, yet they feared such powerful strength—how could human power possibly resist it?

"Generally speaking, there are three situations for heavenly phenomena. First, a high-grade medicinal pill appears, attracting pill lightning. Second, it occurs when one reaches a certain realm; this is rare, as those who can reach such a level are as scarce as phoenix feathers and qilin horns across the entire Dou Qi Continent. As for the third, it is the birth of a so-called Heaven-tier technique or Dou Skill. 'Birth' here does not mean the technique is rediscovered, but rather its creation from nothing... for example... creation..." Yun Shan paused here, then continued:

"However, the Qinglian Saint is already a Dou Sheng, so I imagine there won't be any higher breakthroughs, which rules out the second possibility. Creating a Heaven-tier Dou Skill or refining a high-grade pill... If the Qinglian Saint is also an alchemist... that would truly be a heaven-sent opportunity. A person like this must be a figure standing at the pinnacle of the continent. Yun Yun, if you can enter his sect, it will surely be your supreme fortune!"

Yun Shan's tone grew increasingly excited, as if his original intention in doing this was for Yun Yun to have better development. Her pretty face wore a wry smile; if her aptitude was considered excellent in the Yunlan Sect, she was likely nothing more than a joke in the eyes of the Saint.

"BOOM!" With a thunderous roar that shook the heavens and earth, a pillar of milky-white energy shot into the sky, piercing the firmament. At the top of the energy pillar, a figure stood steadily, walking upon the air.

Zhang Nian had not expected that the Nanming Li Fire would directly evolve Fen Jue to the high-grade Heaven tier. He even faintly felt that high-grade Heaven tier was not the limit of the technique; there was still room above it!

The power of a high-grade Heaven tier technique was manifested to the extreme at this moment. This extremity was not just in the speed of Dou Qi circulation; in steps like energy absorption, refinement, and capacity, it had undergone a heaven-shaking change compared to before.

In just a few breaths, he converted all the Dou Qi in his body.

His cultivation surged in a short time, and this rapid increase in strength brought no burden to his body. The power of the Heavenly Derivation Saint Physique was displayed to the fullest, and his cultivation steadily reached the one-star Dou Zong realm.

Holy flames erupted from around his figure. In the blink of an eye, the entire sky was filled with milky white. The scorching temperature even caused the entire Jia Ma Imperial Capital to heat up, with steaming heat rising from the ground. As the flames soared, they seemed to purify everything.

"Heavens... the Qinglian Saint is truly terrifying... could this flame be the legendary Heavenly Flame?" In the distance, Yun Shan looked at the white flames filling the sky, his respect deepening even further. Only such a powerhouse could be considered the pinnacle of the continent...

In the Jia Ma Imperial City:

The hemp-robed old man, Jia Xingtian, immediately shouted to the ruler of the empire: "Quickly call Yao Ye back! We must find a way, no matter what. If we can gain the Saint's favor and have him take Yao Ye as a disciple, the Jia Ma Imperial Family will surely endure forever!"